1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for which the entry of information is enabled by the provision of a situational user interface, and a method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, the operation procedures of a PC are customized and altered by customizing an application for the PC in accordance with changes specified by a user.
For example, buttons to activate the functions of an application can be added or deleted, or their positions can be moved by employing a user setup function.
According to the method for customizing the application, however, the operation procedures are determined only by referring to customized information for each user, and they are not changed dynamically in consonance with an existing situation. Therefore, in specific situations, usability is considerably deteriorated.
To overcome the above shortcoming, it is one objective of the present invention to provide optimal operation procedures in consonance with a situation to drastically enhance the usability.
According to one aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing apparatus comprising:
input means for inputting instruction information;
condition recognition means for identifying a condition;
input procedure determination means for selecting input procedures to be performed by the input means in consonance with the condition identified by the condition recognition means; and
processing means for performing processing based on the instruction information that is input by the input means in accordance with the input procedures that have been selected.
According to another aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing apparatus comprising:
output means for outputting information;
determination means for selecting a priority level for an information item to be output;
decision means for designating an output form for the information item based on the priority level selected by the determination means; and
output control means for permitting the output means to output the information item using the output form that has been designated.
According to an additional aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing apparatus comprising:
output means for outputting information;
count means for counting information items to be output;
determination means for selecting output forms for the information items based on an information item count obtained by the count means; and
output control means for permitting the output control means to output the information items using the output forms that have been selected.
According to a further aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing method comprising:
an input step of inputting instruction information;
a condition recognition step of identifying a condition;
an input procedures determination step of selecting input procedures to be performed at the input step in consonance with the condition identified at the condition recognition step; and
a processing step of performing processing based on the instruction information that is input at the input step in accordance with the input procedures that have been determined.
According to still another aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing method comprising:
an output step of outputting information;
a determination step of selecting a priority level for an information item to be output;
a decision step of designating an output form for the information item based on the priority level selected at the determination step; and
an output control step of controlling the output step so as to output the information item using the output form that has been designated.
According to a still additional aspect, the present invention, which achieves the objective, relates to an information processing method comprising:
an output step of outputting information;
a count step of counting information items to be output;
a determination step of selecting output forms for the information items based on an information item count obtained at the count step; and
an output control step of controlling the output control step so as to output the information items the output forms that have been selected.
According to a still further aspect, the present invention, which achieves these objectives, relates to a computer-readable storage medium in which is stored a program for controlling a computer, the program comprising codes for permitting the computer to perform:
an input step of inputting instruction information;
a condition recognition step of identifying a condition;
an input procedures determination step of selecting input procedures to be performed at the input step in consonance with the condition identified at the condition recognition step; and
a processing step of performing processing based on the instruction information that is input at the input step in accordance with the input procedures that have been determined.
According to yet another aspect, the present invention, which achieves these objectives, relates to a computer-readable storage medium in which is stored a program for controlling a computer, the program comprising codes for permitting the computer to perform:
an output step of outputting information;
a determination step of selecting a priority level for an information item to be output;
a decision step of designating an output form for the information item based on the priority level selected at the determination step; and
an output control step of controlling the output step so as to output the information item using the output form that has been designated.
According to a yet additional aspect, the present invention, which achieves these objectives, relates to a computer-readable storage medium in which is stored a program for controlling a computer, the program comprising codes for permitting the computer to perform:
an output step of outputting information;
a count step of counting information items to be output;
a determination step of selecting output forms for the information items based on an information item count obtained at the count step; and
an output control step of controlling the output control step so as to output the information items using the output forms that have been selected.
Objectives and advantages other than those discussed above will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the description of preferred embodiments of the invention that follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part of the description and which illustrate examples of the invention. Such examples, however, are not exhaustive of the various embodiments of the invention, and therefore, for determining the scope of the invention, reference is made to the claims that follow the description.